4y 12 AL A& AOF t !J16;wn rntg WEATHER Fair Today with Continued Coid . .................... . . . VOL. LV, No. 44 ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN, FRIDAY, DEC. 22, 1944 PRICE FIVE CENTS ZI DI Him= t 11,ULLS 35 ILEb I TO BELGIU I I -* * * * * * * * * * * * * Soviets Launch PoerfulOffensive On Bud pest Nazis'Lines Shattered For 40Miles Reds Attempt to Strangle Capital By The Associated Press LONDON, Dec. 21.-The Germans announced today that the Red Army, after nearly two weeks of intense preparation, had launched a power- ful offensive along a 40-mile front southwest of Budapest aimed at strangling the long-besieged Hun- garian capital and breaking open the most direct invasion highway to Vienna Soviet shock troops broke through German lines at several unidentified points,,Berlin admitted. Ten Divisions Marshal Feodor I. Tolbukhin hurl- ed ten rifle divisions of his Third Ukraine Army into the attack, moun- ted between Lake Balaton and the Danube and immediately threaten - ing the big junction city of Szekesfe- hervar, the Berlin radio disclosed. In this area Tolbukhin's troops are six or seven miles east and southeast of Szekesfehervar, and are linked with elements of Marshal Rodion Y. Mal- inovsky's Second Ukraine Army, which two weeks ago smashed across the Danube just southwest of Buda- pest's outskirts. Only a 35-mile are remains to be closed on the western side of two- thir encircled Budapest. Many Bombers The German high command com- munique said the resumed offensive was supported by "many bombers," adding that "bitter fighting is in progress." The German Army bulletin also reported that Russian "pressure is mounting" northwest of Budapest between the big Manube bend and the southern frontier of invaded western Slovakia-another avenue of invasion toward Vienna, Austrian capital. French Present Peace Program DeGaulle Says U.S. Must Take Lead Role PARIS, Dec. 21-(P-France is de- termined to help form a world peace organization in which she expects the United States to take the leading role, Gen. Charles DeGaulle told the consultative assembly today at the conclusion of a debate on the new, French-Soviet alliance. Following a statement from D Gaulle, chief of the provisional gov- ernment, on the recent negotiations leading to the signing of the 20-year alliance, the assembly approved the pact which now is ready for ratifica- tion by the French Cabinet. "France cannot conceive a victory without a world security organiza- tion nor without an alliance with London," De Gaulle said. "A real international organization is neces- sary and in this organization who could be first in rank if not the Unit- ed States, whose efforts in the west- ern theater and in the Pacific are enormous?" he added. Ruthven Tells I Message at Campus Party Students Entertain Hill Auditorium Audience Guests at the All-Campus Christ- mas Party held at 8 p. in. yesterday in Hill Auditorium were greeted by President Alexander G. Ruthven who delivered his annual Christmas mes- sage. The President addressed his mes- sage specifically to the students pres- ent. He urged them to ignore the teachings of the cynics and the pes- simists who say that the symbols of Christmas are but carry over tradi- tions from our caveman days and are without real meaning. "In this time of all times recog- nition should be given to the signi- ficance which now attaches to thej old symbols of the cross, the ever- green tree, the mistletoe, the holly, the exchange ofgifts, community singing and other signs of the Yule," he said. President Ruthven added that just as the cynic is wrong about the mean- ing of Yuletide symbolism so is he wrong in declaring that "this war is an inevitable reaction of our animal nature" and that "armed agression and mass murder are unavoidable." "Peace is the happy natural state of man"; President Ruthven said. "War is his corruption, his disgrace and the tragedy now be- eing enacted a horrible consequence of ignoring the commandments of the Great Teacher who said 'Love one another as I have Loved you.''' The Christmas Message was con- cluded with a demand that students rededicate their lives "to the end heralded at the birth of the Prince of Peace, "Peace on earth, good will to men." The Christmas Party, sponsored by the Union Executive Council, was an attempt to unite students and facul- ty members in a fellowship of Christ- mas spirit. The Women's Glee Club, directed by Miss Margurite Hood, .of the School of Music and featuring Mar- ilyn Watt, Ruth MacNeal, Jean Gil- man and Arlene Peugot as soloists, sang "Glory to God In the Highest" and "White Christmas." Beverly Sowle was the accompanist. The Navy Choir with Sam Cars- well, A-S USNR, Eugene Malitz, A-S USNR, and Al Henness, A-S USNR as a special trio, sang the first two verses "Silent Night" and were then joined by the Glee Club and the audience on a repetition of the first verse. The Choir also sang "Joy To the World". Prof. Leonard Meretta, of the School of Music, is the director of the Choir. Five Navy V-12 men known as "Foo Foo Fenner's Five" entertained party guests with a rendition of "Jingle Bells". Other selections of the band were "White Christmas," "Honeysuckle Rose" and "Blue Heaven." Members of the band in- clude leader Joe Fenner, A-S USNR, Don Rambacher, A-S USNR, Skip Skillman, A-S USNR, Hal Jackson, A-S USNR and J. McKelvy, A-S USNR. Ka Germans Smash 'VtalAlliedRoads American, British Troops Involved In Greatest Battle of Present Crisis By The Associated Press PARIS, Dec. 21-The unchecked German winter offensive rolled 32 miles through Belgium and slashed a vital Allied highway 18 miles south of the Belgian fortress of Liege in what was described today as the greatest battle involving German or British troops in this war. A second and equally menacing drive swung southwestward and rumbled three-fourths of the way across the tiny duchy of Luxemnbourg to a point 48 miles from Sedan at the French frontier. Vanguards were 10 miles from the Belgian road center of Bastogne, Only on the flanks in Luxembourg * * * NEW STATE DEPARTMENT AIDES TAKE OATH S--Associate Justice Stanley Reed of the U. S. Supreme Court (left) administers the oath of office to Undersecretary of State Joseph C. Grew (hand upraised) in ceremony at State Department, Washington, as Assistant Secretaries look on. They are (left to right) William L. Clayton, Archibald MacLeish, Nelson Rockefeller, and James C. Dunn. Brig. Gen. Julius C. Holmes, another Assistant Secretary, was not present. Womien's War Council Will Hold New Year's Eve Party Members of the Women's War Councilhave invited all students to attend the New Year's Eve celebra- tion to be held Dec. 31-Jan. 1 in the League. Music, movies, games, a floor show and food will be included in the varied bill of entertainment offered by the War Council assisted by the Union Executive Council. "The Scarlet Pimpernel" starring Leslie Howard and Merle Oberon will be shown at 8:30 p.m. and at 11:15 p.m. in the Lydia Mendelssohn Thea- tre. Mortar Board, senior women's honor society, will be in charge of the theatre. Bette Willemin, Harriet Fishel and Natalie Mattern will sup- ervise the project. Juke Box The Ballroom will be furnished with a juke box and a coke bar by Assembly and Panhellenic, headed by 'Col kWeather May End Soon By The Associated Press Early respite from the season's coldest weather was predicted last night by the Weather Bureau as a large part of the nation shivered in a frigid blast accompanying the begin-1 ning of winter's solstice at 7:15 p. m. Revising earlier temperature fore- casts, the bureau said midwest ther- mometers would record top read- ings of about 20 degrees above zero today and that tonight's lows in the midwest would be around 12 de- grees above. These figures were from 5 to 10 degrees warmer than pre- viously indicated. Florine Wilkins and Margaret Lau- bengayer. For those who prefer other forms of entertainment there will be fortune tellers Bethine Clark and Peggy Goodin and games set up byj the Union and Junior Girls Project. A student-talent floor show will be presented at 11:15 p.m. in the Ball- room. Eleanor Mellert, Lady Magi- cian, will display some of her most complicated sleight-of-hand acts. Beverly Wittan and Dorothy Murzek will do a specialty dance act and coeds from Alpha Chi Omega will do their skit, "I Walked Home from the Buggy Ride." Members of the Wo- men's Glee Club will sing a few selec- tions. Pat Coulter, Shelby Dietrich, Jean Gilman and Ruth Edberg have arranged for the entertainment. Grill Room Open The League grill room will be open during the entire evening under the supervision of Dean of Women Alice Lloyd, her assistant Mrs. Mary C. Bromage and Miss Ethel MacCor- mick, director of coed undergraduate activities. House directors from coed dormitories will act as waitresses. The grill room will be appropriately decorated for New Year's. Mary Anne Jones assisted by Joan Pullam, Miss Wilkins and Miss Laubengayer will be in charge of decorations. Students Favor Conlinuation of Present FEPC Results of the drive conducted Wednesday by the Inter-Racial Asso- ciation in favor of the establishment of a permanent Fair Employment Practices Committee indicate that students favor the FEPC by a ratio of two to one. Four hundred students signed the petitions, which were distributed by IRA and Michigan Youth for Demo- cratic Action. Petitions will be sent to the Senate urging the establish- ment of a permanent governmntal committee to do away with racial and religious discrimination in indu- stry. When asked "Are you in favor of the establishment of a permanent or- ganization to do away with racial discrimination in industry," 286 stu- dents voted "Yes," while 61 voted "No." 163 "Yes" votes and 177 "No" votes were tabulated in the second ques- tion: "Do you favor coercive meas- Students Leave For Christmas Vacation Today With pre-war 20-day Christmas vacations and New Year's Day at home only a memory, Michigan stu- dents will leave campus today at the end of their last class for an abbre- viated five-day recess. The third war-time University holiday will see the students back in Ann Arbor for their first class Thursday morning. Michigan stu- dents will attend classes New Year's Day for the third straight year. New School Year The shortened vacation, adopted in line with the academic accelera- tion program of the three-term year, utilizes all the time available under the new school year," a University spokesman said. Earlier campus rumors suggested that the vacation might be extended but the University spiked student hopes for a protracted recess when it was revealed that it would be "ut- terly impossible to find more time in the year." Special Sections Special sections of east and west bound trains will be run today to help "haul the holiday traffic," lo- cal Michigan Central Railroad offi- cials said yesterday. Additional sections include two sections (instead of one) of the 1:31 p. in. Mercury to Chicago and two sections each of the 3:36 p. m. and the 6:11 p. m. eastbound trains to New York. Additional sections of the eastbound will run as far as Buffalo. Scotching widespread rumors, MCR agents said that the ticket sale is being continued and will probably be "heaviest just before train time." MORE ARITHMETIC: on the south and in the Malmedy- Stavelot sector on the north had the German advance been halted. One enemy armored spearhead, the bulk of a Panzer division, was being ground to bits in a trap of steel near Stavelot. Initiative Is Enemy's The initiative remained definitely in the hands of the enemy. Supreme Headquarters, reporting German ad- vanced positions as of noon Tuesday, gave no hint that the drives had spent their momentum. Many American formations have been badly mauled, supplies have been consumed and lost, and the doughboys in the trenches see in the German drive a reverse which may prolong the war many months. Allied Counterblow One American counterblow on the north narrowed by nine miles the 55-mile wide neck of the German bulge into Belgium and Luxembourg. The valiant fight of the doughboys, a U. S. First Army staff officer de- clared, had bought time in which countermeasures to check the Ger- man rush could be prepared. (A German broadcast, declaring five Allied divisions had been com=- pletely smashed and that seven oth- ers were in retreat, asserted the "steamroller offensive" was driving toward the Meuse Valley, which is some 35 miles west of advanced en- emy positions reported today. (One Berlin military commentator said the Third Army had rushed up into southern Luxembourg.) Workers Fined For Striking DETROIT, Dec. 21-(P)-Nearly 500 members of the United Rubber Workers of America (CIO), each fin- ed $12.50 for violating the union's stringent no-strike pledge by parti- cipating in' a three-day strike last October, awaited tonight for a dis- missal threat to be carried out. The workers, among an original 1,000 penalized for ignoring a union back-to-work order in a walkout at the U. S. Rubber Company, failed to pay the fine at the deadline at midnight Wednesday. Robert H. Hill, union international representative, said the matter now rests solely in the hands of Sherman H. Dalrymple, of Akron, O., union president. WAR A7TA GLANCE By The Assoiated Press. WESTERN FRONT-Uncheck- ed German offensive rolls 32 miles through Belgium. Fog shrouds front, V-2 bombs continue to rain down. RUSSIAN FRONT - Germans announce Reds launching new drive along 40-mile front south- west of Budapest. PACIFIC FRONT - American warplanes have another air base from which to hit Jap shipping in Philippines. German Drive Leads to New U.S. War Plans By The Associated Press WASHINGTON, Dec. 21.- Ger- many's powerful counter-offensive led government officials tonight to resurvey arms production plans on the basis that heavy fighting may continue in Europe for a year or longer. Against this dark possibility, how- ever, Secretary of War Stimson set another-the possibility that the war may be "definitely shortened" if the Nazi effort can be crushed. But even if the Stimson-foreseen possibility should prove true, it ap- peared certain that the present rate of arms production mi t be stepped up because of the enor- mous losses of materiel in the cur- rent heavy fighting. This would mean further delay in increasing production of civilian good's. WPB Chairman J. A. Krug told a news conference that "greatly in- creased demands on production" would result from the Nazi counter- thrust. "If General Eisenhower had been able to break through the west- wall promptly, the equipment we had under procurement would have been sufficient," he said. Yanks Occupy Midoro Base Battle of Leyte Almost Over, Says MacArthur PHILIPPINES, Dec. 22, Friday- (P)-American warplanes are now using the Mindoro Island airdrome, giving them another base from which to harass Japanese shipping and supply lines in the battle for libera- tion of the Philippines. The 10th and 24th American Army corps have formed a junction in the Ormoc corrdor of Leyte Island, a headquarters communique said to- day. Gen. Douglas MacArthur reported Wednesday that the battle for Leyte was almost at an end. Japanese planes continued their harassment of the Americans on Mindoro Island, and the Yanks shot down 11 of 29 enemy raiders Wed- nesday. Remnants of the shattered enemy forces on Leyte were attempting futilely to flee across the Ormo highway to the island's west coast, where lies Palompon, their last port OFFICIALS MEET: Improved Voting Techniques CAMPUS EVENTS Today Christmas vacation starts at 5 p. m. Today Michigan Technic goes on sale. Dec. 23 Wolverine cagers take on Wyoming in the seventh game of the current seas- on at 7:30 p. m. at Yost Field House. Dec. 28 Classes resume at 8 a. m. Dec. 29 Prof. Mentor Williams will speak on "What the Big Three Conference 'MR r"A tf 'Rn n m_ at New Modes of Math Instruction Studied by Policy Commission Seven recommendations, designed to improve the state's voting mech- anism, will be submitted tothe 1945 Michigan legislature, Mrs. Luella M. Smith, Washtenaw County Clerk said yesterday. The recommendations are the re- sult of a recent meeting of the Mi- chigan Association of County Clerks' Election Study Committee. Solves Election Problems Mrs. Smith, a member of the new- ly-formed Study Committee, termed the creation of a state election com- sation with the full-time director re- ceiving a salary. Michigan's secre- tary of state would act as chair- man of the group. Proposals Include In addition to the first recom- mendation, Study Committee propos- als include: 1. Enactment of legislation to conduct elections at a uniform time throughout the state. 2. Elimination of voter registra- tionn el etion dav In a recent conference of the Post- War Policy Commission attended by Dr. Raleigh Shorling, head of the Department of Mathematics in the University High School, plans were made for the publication of the sec- ond report of the group to be issued in May in the "Mathematics Teach- er." The second report of the group will concern improved teaching of arith- metic: functional competency in The main purposes of the Com- mission which was formed by the Board of Directors of the National Council of Teachers is to suggest and study various phases of mathematics which have developed through tests offered by the Army and Navy and to further the study of mathematics throughout schools. This program plans to utilize the experience derived from the mathe- matic training programs of the